Woodworking | Kenta Takeshige

Belly (core body)

Material: Oak

Our endlessly expanding consumer society has become so full that it's like a tense muscle can no longer support itself and sags downward. If growth is the economic model, then anyone calling for reduction is seen as a heretic. I believe that if everyone reduced their consumption just a little, the Earth would change a little.

Co-existence (core body)

Material: Japanese Kiso Cypress

Tokonoma Gyo style

Material: Western Red Cedar

Fuso-An

The original idea was to build a small tea house, size of 3 tatami mats.

Instead of a tea house, it has become a modern cube mixing eastern and western elements. I named it ‘Fu Sou An’ which means ‘floating hut’ in Japanese because it is lifted by I-beams. For the wooden joints of the construction, I was inspired by old farm houses in Black Forest in south-west Germany.

Western Red Cedar was chosen as material for the frame construction. In order to optimize the strength of this wood, I needed to reconsider and adjust the wooden joints. For the outside walls and roofing, I used Western Red Cedar shingles, making irregular pattern with Yakisugi shingles (burned Cedar shingles) on the sides. The roof overhang is long enough to sit on Engawa (veranda) without getting wet on rainy days.

The inside walls are clay finishing. The floor is covered with half size tatami mats. The entrance is a pair of old sliding doors from Japan.